Rules
Community Rules - This is an 18+ server, and, as such, you must be at LEAST 18 years of age to play on it. - All individuals should be courteous, and show common decency towards one another. - Names and images should not be offensive, or disturbing. - Profile names on Discord, and on the Wikia, must match. - All individuals must be on the Discord. - Do not advertise for other Communities through any avenue of Pure Ark, whether that be the Discord, or the Wikia. In-Character Communication - All In-Character communication must take place through ingame chat/voicechat. - No out of character methods may be used, including but not limited to; Teamspeak, Discord, and Skype. You may chat OOCly through these methods, but IC communication must stay ingame. - One should stay IC as much as possible, and never go OOC in voice chat. - In an emergency, if OOC must be used, it should be typed in chat, as such; '//Glitched, one sec'. Character Creation - All characters are Human, and must be proportioned within reasonable limits. - Characters may come from any time in the present, or past. However, they MUST be based in the real world. - Names must be realistic, and not the names of celebrities, famous historical figures, or popular fictional characters. - The backstories of characters must be reasonable, not giving excess capabilities and powerful traits. Flaws make a story interesting! - That being said, every individual on the Ark is exceptional in some way, whether this be prodigal skill, intelligence, etc. Don't forget to make sure the trait is something that you are able to portray in RP! - No child characters. This means no characters under the age of 18. - Using mindwipes to respec into all Crafting builds temporarily, simply to make recipes or quickly create extremely powerful gear, and then switching back, is not allowed. Individuals may, of course, play Craftsmen, who have put in the time to carefully study the intricacies of their craft, and thus have a specialization in Crafting Skill. - Unlimited Respecs are disabled on our server. However, once a week, we have a 'Day of Revelation', during which Respecs are enabled. This day is intended to give individuals a chance to redistribute stats, and engrams, thus simulating the growth and specialization of characters. There is always balance. Focusing more time on learning, means less time keeping one's fitness in check. More time working hard builds strength, but means less time focusing on craftsmanship. Metagaming and Powergaming - Metagaming - the use of OOC information, in an IC capacity. This is strictly against the rules, and very poor RP on the part of the perpetrator. This is not just limited to information from outside sources. Metagaming also includes gaining the names of individuals from their nameplates, using logs to determine who raided you, using nameplates to determine ownership of buildings, etc. - Powergaming - forcefully making one's own character unrealistically powerful, or, forcing certain consequences/circumstances upon another's character. One can NEVER force another player to perma their character, for instance. Playing that your character is strong enough to carry a large dinosaur singlehandedly, is, again, powergaming, and poor RP. Value for Life - The characters are not immortals. They should act, in such a manner that every situation poses a risk, and could be life threatening. Being confident is one thing, but purposefully putting one's self in danger for no real reason, is poor roleplay. That characters MUST show Value for Life, both their own, and that of those they care about. New Life Rule - When an individual is 'killed' in RP, they may do one of three things; - 1) Come back as injured - in this case, the individual returns to the place at which they were injured, after hostilities have ceased. They are completely incapacitated, and at the mercy of their aggressors. They may take no actions to further harm or hinder the aggressors. The injury(s) which the victim has received, are life threatening, and they will likely perish without medical attention of some kind. Injuries are serious, and should be RP'd for at least 24 hours. During this time, they should impair the character in some manner (no sprinting due to a body or leg injury, no using a shield or two handed weapon due to arm injury, etc). - 2) Resapwn - in this instance, the character has actually perished in the situation. However, they awake on a beach some distance away, disoriented, without their possessions, or their recent memories. The individual is completely free of any previous injuries or maladies. They have forgotten everything 30 minutes prior to, and including their death, or, the entire situation leading to it, and including the death. They may regain these memories, if they find their implant, and take it to an Obelisk. The individual MUST respawn at least 3 map hexes away from the location in which they were killed. All of their possessions which they were carrying, are forfeit. The individual may not return to the location in which they were killed, until after the aggressors have left. - 3) Permadeath - in this case, the individual has been killed in the situation, and does not Respawn at a beach. They are gone forever. The player should make a new character, with a new backstory. This new character may have no connection to the previous one, and the new character retains no possession of the previous character's property. - Note - In all case, Value for Life must be maintained. In addition to this, no method is endless. Being injured time and again, will begin to cause crippling effects on the body. Individuals may not Respawn endlessly, and, after a couple of Respawns, may be required to make a new character, especially if failing to show Value for Life. Forbidden RP - While this is a mature server, with mature themes, there are certain kinds of RP that will not be tolerated. - These include, but are not limited to; Rape, excessive torture RP, RP deemed to be trolly/over the top insulting (racist, discriminatory, etc). As well as this, ERP (Erotic Roleplay), is not allowed on the server. It may be referred to, but when the clothes come off, take it to PM (Private Message). You should not be exposing other characters and players who are not involved, to this kind of RP. - While not anything specific, all individuals should act with consideration for the other players in the community. If an individual is made uncomfortable by some form of RP, it should not happen, and should be communicated OOC. Both parties should communicate, and find some way forward, to achieve their goal, while continuing to make it a fun experience for all. Creature Rules - There is no hard cap on creatures. However, it should be kept within reasonable limits. A single individual, should not be maintaining 30 Gigas by themselves. If one wishes to do mass breeding/taming, they should be doing so as a coordinated effort, with other individuals. - Creatures may only be left on aggressive, if they are fully walled in, with no way to simply wander out, in a non-public area. Flyers may never be left on aggressive. - You are responsible for unclaimed creatures, until the point in time that someone else claims them. This includes any damage which they may cause. - Passive creatures may not be purposefully attacked. They may be tranqed, in order to access their inventory, but nothing else. - Titanosaurs - Only one Titanosaur may be owned by a group at any given time. They may never be set to anything other than passive. They may not be used for any sort of aggressive encounters (including base defense), except in times of War. - Wyverns - Wyverns are limited to one per person, and may only be used in defense, unless during Wartime. - There are certain creatures which may only be used aggressively, in times of War. These are; Platform Mosas, Platform Brontos, Platform Quetz's, Wyverns, Gigas, Rock Golems, and Titanosaurs. - With the exception of the Titanosaur, these creatures are still permitted to be used in base defense. - Wild Wyverns are NOT to be tamed (Naj's Flyers mod adds this capability). Wild eggs may still be stolen and raised, but the wyverns themselves may NOT be tamed. Traps and Turrets - Traps may be placed anywhere within an individual's, or a group's, marked territory. This territory must be defined by walls, an obvious fence, or the such. - Traps may also be placed outside of the property, however, these traps must be actively monitored, and when not, they must be dismantled. - Traps include; Bear traps, narco traps, sound traps, Purlovia, Plant species Y traps, Thylacoleo, and Megalania. - Turrets may be placed anywhere within an individual's, or a group's, property. Turrets must be set to lowest range, highest warning, unless they are placed inside of a structure, which must be breached to interact with them. In this case, the turrets may be set to anything that the owner(s) wish. General PvP Rules - PvP must always have RP buildup, and aftermath. There is no complicated script of what must occur, but a simple requirement must be met; before hostilities ensue, the potential victim must be made aware that there is a potential threat, and given a chance to attempt to defend themselves, flee, or respond in some other manner. - PvP should not be something undertaken on a whim. Gunfights and massacres should not be taking place in the woods in common occurrence. Bullying travelers is not unreasonable, however, and if the potential victims pull out weapons, or try to simply flee, violence may occur. - After a situation has reached the point of Violence being both parties gain Kill Rights on eachother for one hour. This means that, after some sort of demand, threat, or otherwise, has been made, and the potential victim is aware of the threat, both parties may attack eachother without further buildup needed. Once that hour has expired, unless both sides are in open conflict at the time, one side or the other must renew the threat, and re-attain Kill Rights. - Creatures will undoubtedly play some role in PvP. Kill Rights are gained on any creature actively used to cause harm, or used as transport during the conflict. These Kill Rights extend for five minutes after the creature has been dismounted, or whistled passive. Any creature whistled aggressive during a fight, may immediately be deemed a threat, and Kill Rights are attained. - Picking up other players/characters with a flyer without prior permission is prohibited. - Logging out during combat, known as Combat Logging, is not permitted. One must wait until at least 30 minutes AFTER the start of the conflict to log out, and must not log out during active combat. If one absolutely must leave, due to an emergency, they must notify staff, and/or the other party. If an individual crashes during PvP, they should also notify staff and/or the other party. - After an individual has been downed in PvP, all of their items are forfeit. If the individual comes back to play Injured, then any items that the aggressors do not take, should be returned to them. - Defeating another character, does not always require 'killing' them. If an individual is knocked out, whether it be by club, dart, gas, or other means, and restrained with handcuffs, shackles, or it is emoted that they are tied in some other way, they are considered downed, and, again, their items are forfeit. However, they do not receive an injury. - Wild creatures are not to be kited, or dropped, into other players' bases, for any reason. - If you are knowingly in an active combat zone, and you do not immediately remove yourself from it, then you give everyone involved Kill Rights on you, while you remain in that area, and for the full hour, if you take hostile action (see Raiding Rules -> Individuals reinforcing). Raiding Rules - Offline raiding is not permitted. - Any situation in which you must damage and/or break something to gain access to your goal, is considered a Raid. - Raiders may, however, raid bases/buildings/locations that online individuals are not currently at. In this case, they should leave a Raid Note behind, with clues leading back to who did it. They can also leave written notes by the aggressors, graffiti (no offensive images/language), etc. - When raiding a base, the raider should ensure that minimal damage is done. This typically means, one entrance, which should also be the exit. As well as this, appropriate use of tools/weapons should be observed. Metal tools for thatch/wood. Low tier explosives for stone. High grade explosives for metal. - Causing excessive damage, under the rationale that it is to reach 'just one more box' or the such, is not a viable excuse for causing excess damage. Take what you can get, and get out. That is the idea. - Any part of the base which is an active threat, such as turrets, may be destroyed, or disabled. - Items and resources looted from a Raid, may only equal up to 10 slots per raider. Blueprints count as 5 slots each (this means that one raider could only take 2 Blueprints max). Dropping resources and items to despawn is forbidden. - Once the raiders have finished their business, including post-raid RP, they should depart, and are unable to raid the same location for 48 hours. This may be broken, if the victims proceed to attack the raiders' base. - Remember, there should be sufficient RP buildup to a raid! No simply attacking on sight. If a group of raiders can make away with an easy, non-violent score, then that is best for everyone's health, including their own. - Individuals arriving to reinforce either side, are required to make their presence known, and whose side they are on, before engaging in hostile action. Even the raiders need to be ready to defend themselves. - Sleeping bodies may not be taken from, and items may only be ADDED to them. - Open containers, with no barriers to their access, may be stolen from, with no Raid Note needed. - During a raid, all creatures may be knocked out, and their inventories looted. They may NOT be killed, unless Kill Rights have been obtained on them. - Moving, painting, cutting the hair of, or otherwise engaging with sleeping characters, except to move them to a safer location, is prohibited. Thievery - There is a different between Thievery, and Raiding. Thievery is quiet, and sneaky. - Thieving, is the act of taking from containers that may be accessed, without having to break, or deal damage to, any objects. - Thievery does not require a raid note to be left, but, if possible, some sort of clue that a Thief has been there, should be present, such as a door being left open. - There is no hard limit to Thievery, though it is recommended that individuals take limited amounts of items, only what they need. The idea is to steal a few needed things, not to set someone back to Zero. Looting Abandoned Buildings - Some buildings will inevitably end up as being Abandoned, whether from individuals moving, leaving the server, etc. - Buildings whose Demolish Timers have run out, and are thus Demolishable by anyone, are considered Abandoned. - Abandoned buildings may be broken, demolished, and taken from, without limit. Hostages - Sometimes, the goal of hostile actions, may be to take a hostage. There should be considered RP buildup before this occurs. - Hostages may be detained for a maximum of 2 hours normally. If it is part of a War, the hostage may be detained for the duration of the War. The hostage must be RP'd with the entire time. If they must be left alone for whatever reason, they must be provided a chance to escape, whether it be a stashed tool and a wooden door, a hatch leading into a sewer, etc. - If a hostage much log out, they must be provided with a safe location to do so. This should not occur prior to one hour after the hostage has been taken captive. All timers may be extended, if the hostage agrees to it. - Hostages may be interrogated for information, tortured, etc. In these cases, the hostages should fear for their lives, and respond accordingly. If a hostage acts in a way that threatens their life, then they must be fully submitted to the possibility that they may die. - Any individuals in the hostage's tribe, or allied tribes, gain Kill Rights on the captors, until the hostage is released/rescued. - Taunting their captors, egging them on, etc, is poor Value for Life on the hostage's part. War Rules - A War Declaration, is an escalation of aggression between two groups. It is declared between the leadership of one group, and the leadership of another. Terms should be discussed OOCly between both groups, including any limitations on weapons, creatures, when the War should take place, expire, if any battles should take place, etc. - Both parties, and any assisting allies, gain Kill Rights on eachother for the duration of the War. However, before engaging in combat, they should show recognition of the presence of any of the other party that they encounter. This does not allow for shots into bases without warning. - During Wars, all methods (barring those banned in the agreement) are free to be used. Hostages may be taken for greater periods of time. People will likely die. - Excessive Damage rules are a bit more lax during Wars. However, minimal damage beyond the defenses of a base should be observed. Building Rules - When building, one should not block large amounts of resources, nor unique spawns. This includes, but is not limited to, artifacts, creatures, beehives, etc. - Individuals should not build excessively. A single individual should not be claiming an Empire alone. - Please, make attempts to conserve framerates. Individuals obviously building excessively will be asked to downsize, or find more conservative building methods. Advice may be available. Item Exceptions - The Obsidian Multitool is not to be used in PvP. - Except in Wartime, Rocket Launchers are not to be used in PvP. - The 10cc Dart, 30cc Dart, and X-Arrow are not to be used in PvP. - The Alien Wireless Transmitter, and Advanced Electric Prod, are not to be learned, or used. - Individuals should not learn, make, or place the S+ Mutator, until after they have defeated at least one of the Bosses.